I’ve been in Orlando for roughly three weeks, and am figuring out the things I like and don’t like about my new city.

Five Things I Hate About Orlando

  1. The traffic: Everyone is so laid back here, they don’t drive much over the speed limit. They especially don’t drive much over the speed limit in the left lane.
  2. There’s no baseball. There’s the Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, and that’s it. There are a gazillion Single-A minor league teams, and none of them are within an hour of Orlando.
  3. There’s one interstate highway for 2 million people: Come on, man! Indiana has five different interstates for 1 million people. Sure, there are plenty of parkways and state highways though, but most of them are tollways. They’re finishing a part of the parkway system so it runs around Orlando, but I think we’re a year or two from completion.

  4. The Jacksonville Jaguars are our “home team.” Seriously? Whatever happened to the Orlando Breakers? Coach Fox was awesome.
  5. What people think “cold” means. It was 72 degrees a few days ago, and we were walking around Downtown Disney Disney Springs. Someone was wearing a light jacket.

Five Things I Like About Orlando

Orlando_City_2014

  1. Everyone is gung-ho about the new MLS soccer team, Orlando City SC. I’ve never been to a professional soccer game, so hopefully we can go soon. But there are a lot of purple lions everywhere.
  2. Gods and Monsters: If you’re into geek and nerd collectibles, this is about the size of a small supermarket, and it’s filled with nearly every collectible you could imagine. Not a lot of Doctor Who stuff, but you can measure the amount of stuff they do have by the ton. Hundreds and hundreds of Pop head figures, anime and manga, and even retro games and collectibles.
  3. There’s a light rail commuter train. Indianapolis does NOT have one of these, and probably never will. But they have a Triple-A ball club.
  4. Winters in Orlando are like Autumns in Indiana: Fifty degrees, gray, and cloudy. And I’ll be wearing a t-shirt and shorts, while real Floridians are huddled inside their homes, chopping up their furniture for firewood, and eating their neighbors.
  5. The arts scene: There’s always something going on. This Saturday, it’s the Creative City Project, and it looks incredible. Last Saturday, the kids’ favorite art supply store repainted their mural and made a big party out of it.

From the Creative City Project website:

La Nouba by Cirque du Soleil, Orlando Ballet, Central Florida Community Arts Orchestra, Orlando City Soccer Club, a 1000 student marching band, the DowntownArts District, and dozens of other artists and performers bring the streets of Downtown Orlando to life on October 17, 2015.

Creative City Project 2014 from Sarah Espedido on Vimeo.